Thank you for Listening, I Have Bottled This Up – Diagnosed Oct. 30, 2017

George was diagnosed October 30, 2017 just a few weeks ago. He has shared his story below for all of us, let’s welcome him and find ways to make him feel at home!(thx everyone and thx G for sharing–Adam)

Meet George:

I was diagnosed on the 30th October 2017. I had a colonoscopy on the 30th. The pain was so insane I could no longer cope. I am so,happy I have finally recieved an answer.

My family would say I looked in the mirror too much when I was younger. My hobbies are helping other people. I also like the garden I find much pleasure in building projects in and around the garden and House. I love chatting, I can talk for hours and hours.

His Current Symptoms:

Pain in my tummy and lower chest area. Bleeding from the bottom. Pain is intense at times. Hi

George’s Story and Recent Ulcerative Colitis Diagnosis

Hi All. Firstly I would like to express my appreciation for this website (Adam) and to everyone who makes it (the people) because what I have read has been a wonderful help to me.

My story: I started bleeding from my rectum for 6 weeks before I went to the doctors – Why did I wait so long! I thought it was hemorrhoids, when the doctor checked me I was clear, I explained that my tummy was in serve pain, he took some stool samples and blood and sent them away for testing, he said you will get results n 10 days.

However, within a further 4 days I was up at A&E. The pain in my stomach was so intense I could not cope, I could not function at all. If I sat I held my tummy, if I walked I held my tummy, 24/7 I was in pain.

I got admitted to another hospital (I live in a rural area) I received diomorphen as a pain relief. The following day I got a colonoscopy and it was diagnosed as UC…MY Life Changed Forever. I felt happy for an answer to my pain but emotionally wreaked by the result. I felt lost, lonely and emotionally drained.

At times I want to cry, I am a man and feel that I should bottle it up, in fact I think I am. I have tried taking to others about it but they don’t see the pain. For example, if you have a broken arm they see the visible pain. But my pain is inside and I look fit and healthy. You explain to others and they just look at you, but it’s a look as if yeah right there nothing wrong with you or they don’t really listen to,how you REALLY feel. Thankfully here I am able to vent my feelings and explain to you,how I feel and I take comfort in that your reply’s are sincere and that you understand how I feel.

Indeed I do take great comfort in that others feel the same and I take positivity from others’ stories. I am a super positive person but this has taken a chunk out of me. I hope only temporarily.

Thank you for listening. It means so much to me. George

Medications:

I have been prescribed Mesalamine. Paracetamol, Buscopan, Omeprazole and I take Wellman vitamins. They took 10 biopsy’s to check for Cancer and I received a letter from the specialist to go and meet with him in his clinic on Friday 24 th November 2017.

My diet has changed completely. Porridge and chicken and boiled rice, white bread. I have yet to find a sauce and tasty food once again. I am determined to get in to remission ASAP.

written by George

submitted in the colitis venting area

About George Honeyman

I was diagnosed on the 30th October 2017. I had a colonoscopy on the 30th. The pain was so insane I could no longer cope. I am so,happy I have finally received an answer.

13 Responses to Thank you for Listening, I Have Bottled This Up – Diagnosed Oct. 30, 2017

Hi george nice to meet you. I too am new to this site so let me introduce myself. (Btw, Hi adam! Thanks for making this website. I love your youtube videos!) my name is Larrend and i am from australia, but i originated from the Philippines. I recently got diagnosed with uc 15th of october. Had to wait that long for diagnosis as drs first said i have salmonella. My symptoms (bloody mucusy diarrhea) started right after i returned home from canada thats why dr’s thought i might hve picked a parasite from overseas but all tests came back negative and a month later was sent for a colonoscopy and had to wait for biopsy results and finally a confirmed diagnosis in october. Still cant believe it. Im sure all of us newly diagnosed are still in denial (at least i am or i was) but yeah, this is my new normal now. Im still flaring since august 8th, but this website gives me hope and learning a lot every day. (Thanks again adam). So from a newbie to a newbie, we need more patience and understanding of this disease. Im sure in the very near future you will share with us how you get into remission ;) all the best buddy! You are never alone!

Hi George! Thanks for sharing your story. It can be pretty scary when you first get diagnosed but also a relief to hear that it is a real condition and you aren’t just going insane. More importantly, that you can live with it and learn to cope with it but it doesn’t have to rule your life. You shouldn’t have to bottle up your feelings and that is what’s so great about this website. My friends and family sometimes struggle to understand what i’m going through because I also never look visibly ill and often the signs stay in the privacy of the loo! I am also a proper chatterbox (love to talk) but I have turned this to my advantage by talking about the condition and raising awareness about an illness that may be deemed as taboo. You might think that nobody wants to discuss bowel habits, but you would be surprised how many people are open to discussion and may even know someone who has it. 1 in 500 people in the UK are affected by it. I work in a team of 40 and after a recent spell in hospital, found myself talking about it with colleagues. Turns out 3 of them also have it! For me, talking about it is my coping mechanism and I have found only 1 person at work who was clearly uncomfortable talking about it, everyone else has been great and very supportive. My managers need to know because when I am in a flare up I do have to run to the toilet alot and sometimes am late for work because of it. I was diagnosed in 2009 and have had 2 major flares but also some long periods of remission. That’s the thing about UC, it comes and goes, affects people in many different ways, and often, no 2 flares are the same. When i am in a flare, I suffer terribly with fatique aswell, and sometimes just have to go with the flow and listen to my body by getting as much rest and sleep as possible, exercising regularly and avoiding stress (always makes my symptoms worse). I find pilates, reflexology and acupuncture very helpful personally.
In conclusion, (told u I could talk!) please feel free to respond or ask advice if you need it, try not to let it get you down, but remember, we all have bad days, you are not alone. Reading all the stories on this website will really help. Good luck with your appointment next week and do update us afterwards. Good luck and best wishes. Lisa

George, Hey there! Sorry to hear. 20 years diagnosed… it is hardest the first few years let me tell you! The trial and error of medications, the “is this normal?” thoughts in your head, the “where’s the bathroom!?” and the infamous, “but, you look great!” … I know all too well. I’m here to tell you it gets better and sometimes worse. I’m not going to sugar coat. However, I have had periods of years of remission on zero medications. I haven’t had a flare up in over a year. I currently swear by Psyllium Seed Husk Powder, I get it at my Natural Grocers in bulk for a few bucks. I started with a teaspoon every evening to see reaction and slowly increased. It has helped all of my symptoms. I had “D”, if you would even call it that, more like mucus. I haven’t had blood in my stool for years, ever since I went gluten free, which is much easier now that it’s a fad. I think everyone is different, I’ve tried most suggestions on this site. Some worked to help, others not so much. Remember to not push yourself if you don’t feel well, I had to tell myself that it was okay to relax and not to let this get me down! Good Luck and stay positive!

Hi Sher, thanks for your email and advice. I started talking about it, more open. To be honest I do think some people think your mad because they can’t see any physical sign of illness as it’s in the tummy. But heh Ho just bearing with it. Think it will take a while for my body to settle down, I thought I was doing well with the tablets but right now flare again…or still inflamed colon. Man it hurts big time.! It’s nice to be able to read others comments and share experiences. I haven’t felt up to reading and writing but getting my mind more focused on talking about it…

Ive had uc over 10yrs and recently had a bad flare an couldnt stop bleeding I started primal defense probiotic, juicing cabbage,carrots,and cilantro and drink 8oz three times a day. Also, take 4 slippery elm caps with warm water before every meal. I take pysllium powder with 2 meals. Bleeding and “D” have stopped Thank God Im doing great, was able to stop all meds.

Wow! I this! I have UC I HAD IT for 16 years was diagnosed when I was 14. I hadn’t had a flare in over 6 years. But now I am having flares left and right never ending I also have an umbilical hernia which doesn’t help one bit! I had it (fixed) 3 years ago but guess didn’t help. Now I am strictly eating white rice and chicken the only thing that doesn’t jerk up the pain, while I feed my family other kinds of foods my kiddos are to young to understand why. But soon I am sure they understand. Sometimes you do forget there are others going through the same thing as you. Just remind myself it’s not forever

apologies for the belated welcome – haven’t been on the site in a while as I got a new PC and somehow lost the link!

I’ve lived with UC for 34 years, and reading some people’s stories on here I feel very lucky in that only 15cm of my lower bowel is affected and I haven’t (so far, touch wood) needed surgery. I do suffer flares from time to time (haven’t managed to totally work out which food items are triggers, so sometimes get it wrong). Unlike most (it seems) UC-ers I am actually overweight, which I need to address (going to the gym helps, but after a few ’emergencies’ the year before last, I stopped going and haven’t managed to get back into the swing of it)

I think two of the hardest things to cope with for me are the anxiety about travelling (I work part time and only travel a few miles, but some days I’ve barely left home when I have to stop and find a restroom (I live in the UK so usually say ‘loo’ or ‘toilet’ but I’ve always thought ‘restroom’ sounds much nicer!) which often makes me late for work. Luckily my employers are very understanding, bless them, otherwise life would be even more stressful. The other aspect of UC that I find hard at times is the tiredness/fatigue, which can hit me like a freight train sometimes. In the days when I would have to come home from work and cook the family meal, I would often feel like crying with tiredness, but mostly I just got on with it because, well, I am too embarrassed to make a fuss. (we Brits tend not to like fuss and I am no exception, even though I know it would be entirely reasonable to say ‘I am too tired’) Luckily my husband is now retired and does most of the cooking, which is such a relief – I think only a fellow UC-er would understand, LOL. I’m hoping we might be able to get a small motorhome this year, which will be great for longer journeys and means I won’t have to worry about being ‘caught out’ on the road. I could tell some horror stories about that (but I won’t, way too embarrasing)…

I think the most terrible part of, and the hardest thing to bear from having UC, though, is that I lost our first baby to Spina Bifida in 1991. I had been on sulfasalzine for 9 years by that point, and at no time did the consultant or my GP ever say ‘talk to us if you are thinking of having a baby’. It was a terrible irony that around the time that this was happening, it was just coming out in the news media (no internet back then) that low levels of folic acid are a prime cause of spina bifida. And what does long term use of sulfasalazine do? That’s right, it lowers folic acid levels. It pains me to this day that my daughter might have been born healthy if only the medical advice had been better. I was diagnosed, told to take sulfasalazine and that was it – no real follow up or advice about moderating my diet or anything until many many years later, and certainly no suggestion that pregnancy might need special care. Perhaps I should have twigged, but I do feel the onus was on the healthcare professionals to inform, and they didn’t, for whatever reason. The one silver lining is that following a course of vitamins and minerals (obtained from a private health company at great cost after the ‘Pregnavite 40’ my consultant prescribed was taken off the market (why?!? I never understood that!), i had a healthy son in 1993. I am still taking folic acid now, to help me stay healthy.

In many ways, UC-ers who are diagnosed nowadays are so much better off in terms of the information available. I don’t know what it is like in the USA and other countries, but overall it is much better in the UK than it was when I was first diagnosed in 1984.

Check out this website linked below. I’m in remission now, and have been for a few years, and I credit that largely to Lialda and following a plant-based or whole-foods vegan diet. When I was flaring, I’d modify my diet further to eat mostly cooked veggies, sweet potatoes, warmed green juices, and some brown rice. It sounds crazy, but this doctor has helped many patients reverse various diseases, including UC, by prescribing this diet.

It’s definitely hard at first but it gets better. When I was first diagnosed in 2014, I became depressed. I was directed to a counselor which helped a bit but it did nothing for my anxiety. I was then prescribed anti-anxiety meds which really helped, but eventually my doctor halted the prescription. Since then, I’ve just learned to live with it. Fortunately, I haven’t had a bad flare since 2014 but it’s on my mind everyday…especially when trying to plan something or when I’m trying to decide what to eat. I take 2 Lialda capsules a day and it’s pretty much kept it under control. When I feel that it may be returning, I take immediate steps. I limit my meals, cut sweets and white flour, and basically restrict my diet to soup, soft veggies, and baked chicken. I have recently found that when I feel a flare may be returning, I devour (yes….devour) bone broth and peppermint tea. I also use a mixture frankincense essential oil and coconut oil as a rub on my abs. You’ll find what works for you with trial and error. I also am a strong believer that faith plays a big part in the healing process.